The Huntington Beach City Council voted on Tuesday to prepare what they call a “Parents’ Right to Know” ordinance, in defiance of a recently passed state law that prohibits school districts from enacting “forced outing” policies for LGBTQ+ students.
The SAFETY Act, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law last month, overrides policies put in place by nearly a dozen California school districts that require school staff to notify parents if their children identify as transgender.
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The proposal, introduced by Mayor Gracey Van Der Mark, calls on the city attorney to draft an ordinance declaring Huntington Beach a “Parents’ Right to Know” city. It remains unclear exactly what the new law will mandate or what the penalties would be for teachers who violate it.
Councilmembers Dan Kalmick, Natalie Moser, and Rhonda Bolton, who voted against the item, raised unanswered questions about the proposed ordinance’s legal standing and how it would be enforced. Kalmick noted that the city doesn’t have jurisdiction over local school districts, some of which stretch beyond Huntington Beach’s borders.
During a heated council meeting, a number of residents expressed opinions both for and against the ordinance. One man accused the council’s conservative majority of being “obsessed with children’s sexuality,” calling it “weird and embarrassing.”
“When my child came out, because I had a relationship with my child, she felt comfortable in saying ‘this is who I am,’ and we worked through it, and that’s what real parents do,” another woman said.
Chino Valley Unified School District, which passed its own forced outing policy last year, filed a lawsuit to block the SAFETY Act shortly after it was signed last month.
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